Belmont United Methodist Church

Episode 79 Alive in the world

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So Good It Catches Us by Surprise

Episode 76 Transfiguration Sunday

Episode 75 Then your light

Episode 74 Spiritual Practices Root Us

Episode 82 Justice Is Foundational, Love Leads to Justice

Episode 72 Grace is Our Foundation

Episode 71 Celebrate and Give Thanks

Episode 70 Incarnate Joy

Incarnate Peace God Restores Us

Episode 68 Incarnate Hope: God Is with Us

Restore

Episode 66 Reimagine

Episode 65 Release

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Episode 63 A Variety of Gifts

The Bible Gives Us Hope to Remake Our World

Episode 61 The Bible Is about God’s Compassion for Us

What Bible If the Bible Is Best Understood in Community?

Episode 59 The Bible Is about Interpreting Experiences

Episode 58 The Bible Is about People

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Episode 56 Finding Your Voice

Senior Pastor Paul Purdue

Episode 54 How Christians Can Live through Bad Times

Welcome! Thank you for joining us!Download the worship bulletin and let us know you are here: https://www.belmontumc.org/worship/ab...Belmont United Methodist Church is a community of Christ-followers growing in love of God and neighbor. This is what we at Belmont UMC believe Christian discipleship is, what we are to be, and what Jesus meant when he sent his followers to “make disciples.”We believe every person is of sacred worth and created in God’s image. We commit to Jesus’ example of inclusive love, care, and intentional hospitality with persons of every race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, faith story, physical or mental ability, economic status, or political perspective. We respect our diversity of opinion and expressions of faith. Therefore, as God loves us, so let us love and serve in the name of Christ.Learn more about us: www.belmontumc.org

Episode 53 Praise Sing Your Song

Episode 52 Praise God with Dance and Tambourine

Episode 51 No King but Jesus

Episode 50 Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, There Is Pride

Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, There Is Community

Episode 48 Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, There Are Open Minds

Episode 48 Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, There Is Empowerment

Episode 47

Episode 46 Sermon from Hunter Wade

Episode 45 The Noah Musical

Tabitha's Life Overflowed with Good Works

Episode 43 Easter in a Nutshell

Episode 41 Easter Sunday

On Tuesday, as part of my Sermon prep, I counted 33 dress shirts in my bedroom closet. That is not counting a few in the laundry room, summer shirts in a big tote in our basement, and an entire wardrobe filled with t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters, outdoor and farm wear. If you added in pants, jeans, jackets, and coats I might have enough clothing to line a city block if there was another Palm Sunday Parade.  Is it time to go to Goodwill? What if you only had the clothes you were wearing, would you offer your only coat as a saddle or toss your tunic in front of the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem?  Would you worry about the donkey’s hooves tearing your coat? In 30 AD day laborers and working class people generally owned one change of clothes. People patched and repaired clothes wearing them every day for years. In Genesis 37, Joseph’s older brothers loathe him for his coat of many colors that his dad gave him. After crucifying Jesus the soldiers gambled for his clothes. Exodus 22 mandated that if you took a neighbor’s coat to secure a loan, you must return it before sunset. The commandment appeals to humanity more than legalism asking: “How will your neighbor keep warm?” And promising that when your cold neighbor cries out, God “will listen, because God is compassionate”.

Senior Pastor Paul Purdue

Episode 38 Everything Between Lost & Found

Episode 37 Everything Between Rest & Growth

Episode 36 Everything Between Faith & Works

Episode 35 Everything Between Stranger & Neighbor

Does it ever feel like things are pressing in around you? Have you put down that phone, which is cleverly engineered to suck us into its interests, and felt a bit anxious, frazzled, or alone? 2,000 before radio, phones, or newspapers, Paul warned us to limit our content: “Finally, siblings, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4)  We might all benefit from scheduling daily time away from our screens allowing for notification-free prayer, conversation, music or even yard work. Longer thought spans let us day-dream, imagine, and breath. ......

First Corinthians 13 may be my favorite passage in the whole Bible. By Monday I had the beginnings of three good sermons that stretched out 12 pages, one had a great funny opening story. None of them seemed adequate for our national moment that Bishop Tracy S. Malone, President - Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church named as “Deplorably, racist, xenophobic, nationalistic, and anti-migrant. In such moments, we may hesitate to talk about love because love feels like a weak resignation to hate.  

May the boldness of God’s Spirit transform us, may the gentleness of God’s Spirit lead us, may the gifts of God’s Spirit equip us to serve and worship you now and always. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Despite my protest, Dad refused to reshuffle the order of cars in the driveway, so we rolled up in an old farm truck, with a huge dent in the bed and non-functioning air horns across the cab. I was a ninth grader, new to my school and heading to my first party with the popular crowd.  Dad turned off the main road onto a gravel road and stopped in front of a big bonfire.  He looked out and saw 50 teenagers he did not know and said. “Paul… Remember who you are. A lot of things may happen tonight. Remember who you are.” In her book, In My Grandmother’s House: Black Women, Faith, and the Stories We Inherit, Dean Yolanda Pierce writes. “A child cannot fully know how they are being cared for and blessed, fed, and nurtured. I simply trusted that my grandmother and the church mothers wanted the best for me, wanted more for me than they wanted for themselves. I had no way to express my gratitude when I was a child because I was unaware of the gifts of love, mercy, and grace that were extended to me. It was only on the way to my own adult life that I began to grasp the profound wisdom I learned around dinner tables, in small Sunday-school classrooms, and in church basements.”